It’s a cold week in Colorado, and I just finished eating a bowl of split pea soup that I made, complete with a ham hock. I did the normal stuff to make the soup tasty: sauteing onions, carrots, celery, adding chicken stock, the ham hock and a bit of salt and pepper. I’m glad that I tried my soup before anyone else because it was bland and needed more culinary support.
In thinking about flavoring, tasting and deliciousness, my son always gives me the helpful advice, “Did you taste it first, Mom?” This question makes me chuckle because it’s a blinding flash of the obvious, and I smirk when I answer my son, “Wow, that’s such a great idea. I’m really thankful for your practical wisdom!” He’s always right because I often forget to taste what I’m cooking.
In relation to cooking, flavoring and making tasty food, the Bible has a lot to say about our culinary efforts. For starters, let’s think about Esau. He was Isaac’s oldest son and rightful heir of both the family birthright and blessing. But food was a weak spot for Esau, as he sold his birthright for a bowl of stew (Genesis 25:28-34). He also lost the family blessing when Jacob, his younger brother, made the savory stew his dad requested and pretended to be Esau to get the family blessing. Jacob knew how to cook, and he used his skills to acquire his brother’s birthright and blessing, albeit with very deceptive methods.
It’s also interesting to think about the Israelites’ complaint in the wilderness when they recalled the food they ate when they were enslaved in Egypt. In Numbers 11:5-6, we read, “We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.” Clearly, the Israelites were pining for a changeup in their daily food options.
These are two scenarios in which food was a downfall or used as a ploy. On the flip side, let’s also consider that the Bible gives us some helpful instructions using food as a familiar context. To begin, in Psalm 34:8, we read, “O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” Also, we are encouraged to let our words be sweet, as we read in Proverbs 16:24, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” And finally, Paul has some helpful wisdom about the flavor or our words in Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
As we work our way through winter, let’s aim to not only keep warm and cozy in our clothing and homes, but let’s also let our words and interactions be warm, tasty and gracious. Maybe through our words and conversations, people might be able to taste and see that the Lord is good!
